Container for cigarette packages



Aug. 6, 1935. l. FLORMAN 2,010,783

CONTAINER FOR CIGARETTE PACKAGES Filed March 13, 1954 grime/mm Irving F'Z orman Patented Aug. 6, 1935 UN {TE new) 7 cla ms.

The. invention relates to cigarette containers: and moreparticularly to'containers or protectors for cigarette packages of a size which can easily be carried in the pocket of a consumer.v

Cigarette containers or protectors for .cigarette packages of manykindshave been known. Most 5 Weight or bulkiness since theyincrease the size. or the weight, of acigarette package too much.

to be easily carried in the pocket. 1

Cigarettes are often sold in light packages of paper or other flexible material. After :the, re-

moval of some of the cigarettes, the package is. easily crushed in the pocket of the ,user, thereby; assuming a crumpled appearance and the-cigae rettes contained in the ,packagewill be broken or;

" portion,the packageeof cigarettes will be held in place; Cigarettes; cantheneasily be removed bent. a

The object of my invention is to provide a casing for cigarette packages which will enclose and protect the package from losing its normal shape,

and the cigarettes in this package from being crushed or bent.

Another object is to provide a container for cigarette packages which will securely grip the package so as to hold it in the container, yet without crushing it when a part of the contents have been removed from the package.

A further object of the invention is to provide a casing which is light in weight and of simple and cheap construction.

Still another object is to provide a casing for cigarette packages which is of pleasant appearance and high durability.

Another object is to provide a casing which is very simple in operation.

The objects of my invention are accomplished by the device described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawing in Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a package of cigarettes enclosed in and held by the protective device according to my invention,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device without the cigarette package, and

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of my invention.

My invention is preferably formed of a single, integral piece or plate of resilient material, such as celluloid, artificial resin, hard rubber, metal or the like. It consists of a back wall 2 which is preferably substantially plane. At each side edge of the back wall the sheet of material is bent to form side walls 4. These side walls are bent inwardly through more than 90, so as to be inclinedtowards other and .to form acute angles .withtherearwall. In otherwords, the angle .at 6'is formed ,duringthe manufacture so astoexert an inward stress on the side walls.

At thefront edges of the side walls, the plate is again bent-inwardly to form two separate frontwall portions 8. ,JIhese preferably are substantiallyperpendicular: to the side wall portions. Theltotal width ofjzthefront wall portions is substantially equal to the widthof therear or back, wall. It will :be 'evidentqthat when .the device is not in use these front wall portions-will over: lap because of the inward inclination of the side wallsa, i1 i j The back portion- 2 terminates at its lower edge in a flanged or bottomiportion [0 of a width much less't ag h thi k e s f the pa k e a ntainer; --By providing, this relativelysmall bottom from the packageby tearing oil. a portion of. the wrapping at .thetop ;of the packageandpressing he; port oniwh h is o p s the o nt and not covered by the flange. A supply of cigarettes may thus be pressed out of the package to such an extent as to be removed from the package without effort. The gripping action of the back portion 2 and the two front portions 8 is sufficient to allow the small pressure against the bottom of the package for removing cigarettes therefrom, without forcing the package out of the container. When a certain amount of cigarettes have been removed, the package will easily be crushed in the pocket of the consumer,

when no stiffening device is provided to protect the package. The gripping action of the back and front portions of my container is so calculated that, while a certain amount of pressure is exerted upon the package, this pressure is not great enough to crush the package. The friction between the walls of the package and the inner surfaces of the gripping container is enough to hold even a practically empty package securely.

Another advantage of the flange-like bottom portion is that it increases the rigidity and stability of the container and particularly of the back wall, thus increasing the strength of the resilient gripping action of the back and front portions. 7

The splitting of the front wall into two parts permits a package of cigarettes to be easily inserted in the container or removed therefrom.

As will be seen in the drawing, the corners l2 of the two front portions 8 are rounded off so as to prevent marring of the package asit is being inserted and to avoid any scratching or tearing of the pocket.

The container can be manufactured of various kinds of materials, and by using an appropriate kind, various color efiects can be produced or the casing can be provided with ornamentations pleasing to the eye. The solid appearance of the casing and such ornamentations or colored materials will give the device a pleasant aspect.

While I have shown and described-my invention, I claim:

l. A protecting device for cigarette packages comprising a casing, said casing having a back portion, two side portions and two front portions, said front portions being normally inwardtion upon a cigarette packagebeing inserted within said casing, said bottom portion being of a width less than that of the container.

3. 'A protecting device for cigarette packages, comprising a casing having a back wall, side walls extending at an angleto said back wall and normally pressed inwardly towards each other to assume normal positions at an acute angle to said back wall, and inwardlydirected,

separate frontwall portions extending inwardly from the front edges of the side wall portions and substantially at right angles thereto.

4. A protective device for-cigarettes, comprising an integral casing formed of a single piece of resilient material, and comprising a back wall, side walls having normal positions at-acute angles to said back wall andslightly inclined -to wards oneanother, said side walls being movable by pressure to positions substantially perpendicular to said back wall, and-separate front wall portions extending inwardly towards one another from the front edges of said side walls and substantially perpendicular thereto.

6. A protective device for cigarettes, comprising an integral casing formed of a single piece of resilient material, and comprising a back wall, side Walls having normal positions at acute angles to said back wall and slightly inclined towards one another, said side walls being movable by pressure to positions substantially perpendicular to said back wall, and separate front wall portions extending inwardly towards one another from the front edges of said side walls and substantially perpendicular thereto, the combined width of said front wall portions being substantially equal to the width of said back wall.

6. A protective device for cigarettes, comprising an integral casing formed of a single piece of resilient material, and comprising a back wall, side walls having normal positions at acute angles to said back wall and slightly. inclined towards one another, said side walls being movable by pressure to positions substantially perpendicular to said back wall, and separate front wall portions extending inwardly towards one another from the front edges of said side walls and'substantially perpendicular thereto, the combined Width of said front wall portions being substantially equalito the width of said back wall, and an inwardly directed flange on the lower edge of said back wall of a width less than that of the container.

'7. A cigarette package holder, comprising an open ended. frame proportioned to receive and substantially enclose a conventional package of cigarettes, having two opposed relatively wide sidemembers and two opposed relatively narrow side members, one of the wide side members being split longitudinally along its medial portion, hereby providing two resilient wings having a tendency to clamp inwardly upon the cigarette package.

' IRVING FLORMAN. 

